Geisha

This past Saturday a friend of mine told me she was going to the opening of a new restaurant/club in Shanghai and she invited me to go with her. I'm not really big on clubbing in general and I spend most of my time avoiding these types of events, and trying to explain to people that it's really just not my scene. My friend was covering the opening in an article she was writing for her internship and she couldn't find anyone to go with her so I bit the bullet and headed out to the new club, Geisha, on Saturday night.

We didn't know what to expect but when we got there the place was clearly crowded and there was a line forming outside the doors. Since my friend was writing a piece for a local website we were allowed in immediately and we headed upstairs to see what all the fuss was about.

 

Geisha is two, decently sized floors of good fun. The place was packed with expats, but that's to be expected at a place that actually touts the fact that they serve "western style" Japanese food on their menu. The crowd seemed beautiful and rich, maybe slightly older given that this was opening night, but otherwise typical, nice club patrons. The bar was serving some kind of free drink until 11 and many people were carrying those around, but the drink of choice was definitely wine, which is an interesting choice for a place that's trying to carry the nightclub vibe.

Confetti was falling from the ceilings and some people were dancing, although more made their way to the dance floor as the night wore on. There was a roof deck with nice views of the skyline and comfortable seating that would have been a great place to enjoy a meal. Many people took advantage of this area because we were experiencing what was probably one of the last truly warm nights in Shanghai.

I was reprimanding myself for not giving this place a chance, because it wasn't so bad when something...interesting happened. There had been a few dancers up on the bars at different times throughout the night and so I wasn't surprised when someone else took the stage. This girl was dressed in a sort of traditional Geisha outfit with a parasol and some large fans. She danced for a while, quite innocently but then before I knew what was happening she began to strip!

I'll save you the details (although these pictures barely do) but the dance ended with her shirt fully off and with wild cheers from the crowd. We took this as our cue to leave and headed out to meet some friends for KTV (Karaoke Television) so that we could enjoy a more quiet end to our evening.